Corra will soon be providing advanced business research and credit reports to financial groups and any interested parties. this should assist companies in evaluating investments, vendor relationships or any co-ventures that they are contemplating.

Coming soon, another product for the Corra suite of background checking services. Check them out before you spend your money.

Terminating an employee is one of a business owner’s least pleasant responsibilities. To get a handle on how frequently entrepreneurs fire workers, and which employees they are most likely to be unhappy with, we surveyed members of the Inc. Inner Circle, our reader panel. Here are the results, based on 251 respondents.How many readers have fired a full-time employee in the past three months? 20%Whom did they fire?
Well, it didn’t always pay to be close to the boss: 12% fired their secretary or assistant.

Most fired department: Sales and marketing
Field sales reps were as likely to get fired as assistants and, as a group, sales and marketing staffers were most often on the chopping block.

Corra knows that no one likes to fire people. Yet most articles and personal testimonies reveal that most managers feel they should have fired the person sooner than later. Managers will cite different reasons, most of them surrounding the build up of animosity and the damage to the overall company morale.

The fact is that most bad sees tend to go from bad to worse. Rotten fruit rots further and starts to stink after awhile. While some heed warnings and get the message to shape it up, the majority will only take the hint when you hand them their walking papers.

So firing is difficult and hiring someone else is even more of a pain. You have to post ads, interview, and if you are smart you should have a good several level interview process and preemployment screening program in place. When you boil it down to the one or two persons you are seriously considering, order background checks, including but not limited to criminal,social security trace, credit reports and the dmv.

A thorough background search while help you determine what you are getting in the bargain. Get rid of the bad seeds. Get rid of the dead wood. Look around for valuable candidates who will be an asset to your business. And check them out before your hire.

Most businesses have made sure to protect computer systems and networks from hackers. But the majority of data leaks or breaches of sensitive company information or intellectual property are often inside jobs.

Youâ€™ve installed protective software, adjusted your hardware, and developed a range of new office policies, all in the name of protecting your computer networks and systems from hackers, phishers, and scammers. Externally, your system seems protected.

But what are you doing to prevent an inside job? Do outgoing or disgruntled employees, or on-site contractors, have too much access to your companyâ€™s top-secret data?

The answer could well be yes. According to a March 2006 Enterprise Strategy Group survey of 227 IT professionals, â€œemployees and on-site contractors were cited as the most likely threat to confidential data security.â€ They even outranked concerns over off-shore outsourcers and random hackers. A separate 2005 study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that 33 percent of all security breaches involved current employees, and another 28 percent involved former employees or former partners.

And the stakes are high: According to those surveyed, up to 50 percent of the data used in their offices could be considered confidential.

Corra has often noted business companies spend megabucks on external security and then scrimp on the background checks that may help them weed out potential data thieves. This practice is akin to putting state of the art locks and security on the front doors and cheap locks on the servant’s entrance. This used to happen in the ritzy neighborhoods Corra once learned in an interview with a noted jewel thief who worked there.

Today, to resort to such half-hearted measures is pure folly. But this is no joke as anyone who lost important data or proprietary information can attest. When you lose valuable data you put your business at serious risk. At the very list you should have a background screening system in place for any job candidates. The obvious, a criminal check, driving reports and credit reports will often help you determine a pattern as who is most likely to steal your data and who would not.

Nothing is guaranteed of course. Disgruntled employees should come under increased scrutiny, and perhaps additional security measures should be taken. You should consider limited access to data with respect to employees who are leaving. Yes, you may appear like you are being overly suspicious, but then again in this world we live in, it is often wise to be overly suspicious.

Take the precautions necessary to keep your business intact. Don’t be victimized because someone took a payoff or became disgruntled with his working condition. And above all, check them out before your hire.

Gov. Janet Napolitano on Monday signed sweeping legislation against employers of undocumented workers, targeting the state’s market for illegal labor with what she called â€œthe most aggressive action in the country.â€

The penalty for violators: The suspension of a business license on the first violation and permanent revocation on a second, amounting to a death sentence for repeat offenders.

House Bill 2779 (Fair and Legal Employment Act)

Provisions

Would prohibit employers from knowingly or intentionally hiring undocumented workers.

Starting Jan. 1, would require all employers to run their employees through the Basic Pilot Program to determine their legal status. Use of the program would act as a sort of immunity for employers facing prosecution under the law.

Would form an eight-member committee to study employer-sanctions laws in Arizona and whether they are fairly enforced. A committee report would be due to the governor, speaker of the House and Senate president by the end of 2008.

Penalties

1st offense: Businesses caught “knowingly” employing an undocumented worker would lose their license for up to 10 days. Those caught “intentionally” hiring an undocumented worker would lose their license for at least 10 days.

The court would order that the employment of all undocumented workers at the business be terminated, and require the employer to sign an affidavit stating that the workers were fired and they will not hire such workers in the future. Employers would be placed on probation for three years (five, for “intentional” violations)

2nd offense (while on probation): Permanent revocation of the business license.

Enforcement

Investigations would be conducted based on complaints against employers.

If the complaint was shown to be valid, the investigator would be required to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement.

From the state’s 2007-08 General Fund, the bill would provide $100,000 to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, and $2.4 million to be distributed to county prosecutors.

Corra believes this new law, if it withstands all challenges to its legality, will soon be adapted by other states. With the Federal Legislators bogged down and busily pandering to myriad solicitation bases is is small wonder Arizona took it upon itself to enact meaningful legislation.

You may love the new law that is scheduled to be implemented this January. You may hate it. Clearly, there are both sides to this issue. It is not Corra’s place to argue either or both sides of this argument.

What Corra can tell you that severe penalties for those who hire undocumented workers is most definitely the trend. so rather than become the poster child for government crackdowns and new laws designed to discourage the hire of illegal workers, Corra urges you conduct background checks on every job candidate and possibly on every current employee.

The Social Security Trace is a must. It will tell if a social security number is valid or not and for the most part if it belongs to your candidate. Corra suggest a criminal check and a Motor Vehicle Report For the few bucks you spend, these searches can save you a lot of money and maybe even prevent your business license from being suspended or revoked altogether, as the Arizona law will mandate.